1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of telecommunications. More particularly, the present invention relates to a call routing service that enables subscribers to configure how outgoing calls are routed.
2. Acronyms
The written description provided herein contains acronyms that refer to various telecommunications services, components and techniques, as well as features relating to the present invention. Although some of these acronyms are known, use of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of the written description herein, the acronyms are defined as follows:                Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN)        Application Program Interface (API)        Central Office Exchange Service (CENTREX)        Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA)        Customized Dialing Plan (CDP)        Direct Inward Dial (DID)        Direct Outward Dial (DOD)        End Office (EO)        File Transfer Protocol (FTP)        Graphical User Interface (GUI)        Generic Data Interface (GDI)        Initial Address Message (IAM)        Off Hook Delay (OHD)        Outbound Call Rules Routing (OCRR)        Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)        Specific Digit String (SDS)        Service Control Point (SCP)        Service Node/Intelligent Peripheral (SN/IP)        Service Switching Point (SSP)        Signaling System 7 (SS7)        Signaling Transfer Point (STP)        
3. Background Information
Caller's using a public switched telephone network (PSTN) are limited in their ability to route outbound calls. It is typical for a subscriber to only have the outgoing call options of selecting a local, local toll, and long distance carrier, and blocking particular outgoing call numbers when initially subscribing to a telecommunications service. Beyond these options, a caller has little to no flexibility on how a call is routed, unless the subscriber subsequently contacts the telecommunications provider and requests changes be made to the subscriber's service. Even in this case, a caller is limited to changing local, toll, and long distance carriers and selecting outgoing numbers to block. These modifications may be done only so many times and at a limited frequency before it becomes a nuisance to the caller and the telecommunications company. While it is possible to use dial-around codes to access different long distance carriers, this too could be burdensome to a caller over time and again, is limited to only long distance service modifications.
Moreover, in today's busy, information age world, it is not uncommon for individuals to have several means by which they are reachable by a communications device such as a telephone, mobile phone, or pager—each of these devices having a separate number. Keeping track of these numbers and the access codes that may be associated with these devices can be very burdensome to a caller. To make matters more difficult, a party to which the caller is trying to contact may have a different device or number by which they are reachable depending on the time of day, day of week, day of year, or specific date.
Further adding to a caller's burden, a caller may have access to several telecommunications services, via dial-around numbers, that provide different cost savings depending on the number dialed; the call type (e.g., local, local toll, and long distance); and time of call (e.g., time of day, day of week, day of year, and specific date). To take advantage of optimal cost savings given today's telecommunications systems, a caller must be able to calculate which telecommunications service to use given the number dialed, the call type, and time of the call. This, too, is often a burden to a caller who may not have the time or information readily available to make the calculations.
Moreover, even if the caller is able to remember all this information, make the necessary calculations, and enter the appropriate numbers into the caller's communications device, it may be the case that the called party is unreachable at the number initially dialed (e.g., the line is busy, the called party doesn't answer, or an answering machine answers). If this is the case, the caller may have to go through the same process over and over again; the caller dialing numbers repeatedly until the caller reaches the called party or simply gives up. This can be especially annoying and unsafe if the caller is driving or is in some other precarious situation.
Today, communication devices come programmable enabling callers to program strings of numbers to be associated with a particular call recipient via keypad or voice input systems. Some telecommunications service providers also offer these services. With these devices and services, a caller has the convenience of number storage and speed dialing. However, such devices and services are not programmable to select which numbers to use given the time of day, day of week, day of year, or specific date. Nor are such devices capable of determining which telecommunications service (e.g., long distance service) to use given the time of the call, the number dialed, or the call type. Furthermore, these devices and services are unable to determine what to do when a called party is unreachable at a particular number. Moreover, such devices and services are cumbersome to program given almost all programming is by means of a dialing pad or voice input system.
Communications using today's telecommunications systems can be cumbersome to a caller since the systems simply do not allow subscriber's to configure their outgoing call options based on the following variables that are common to each outgoing call: Number dialed, the call disposition (e.g., busy, unanswered, answering service reached, and the call is disconnected by the subscriber or telecommunications system), and the time of the call.
The present invention overcomes the problems associated with the prior art, as described below.